Dammit, Stark
by SylviaBronte
Summary: When Tony is testing a new feature to the suit, things go wrong and Pepper ends up getting hurt.


**This is my first Iron Man fic, so not everything'll be perfect. Please be nice, and enjoy!**

* * *

Tony flexed the fingers of his armor-clad arm, aching to try out the alterations he had made to the repulsor in the right hand. He had supposedly made it more powerful, but had only applied the changes to one hand, in case there were any further alterations to be made in the event of a mini disaster.

"Alright..." he began. "Let's see what you've got."

A blast shook the garage, resulting in Tony almost falling over. He was about to smile, and call it a job well done - until a secondary blast succeeded in sending him to the ground.

_Okay... that wasn't supposed to happen._

Within seconds, the repulsor went haywire - firing off in all different directions as Tony, shouting and swearing, desperately tried to stop it - but it was as if it had a mind of its own. Bashing it on the ground in a vain attempt to stop it, after the force of another blast knocked him over again, just as he had managed to get back on his feet.

"Mr. Stark!" Pepper cried, running in as fast as she could in her black, Gucci heels. "Tony, what-"

"Pepper, move!" he yelled, as another blast hit the ceiling. His eyes widened with horror, as one of the large light fittings came loose. "_Move_!"

Too late. Just as Pepper looked up to see what he was referring to, the final wire holding the fitting snapped, and it came crashing down on top of his red-headed personal assistant. As if right on cue, the repulsor died, but Tony was too focused on Pepper to care. He yanked it off and threw it somewhere behind him, not caring where it landed, blinded by the unexplainable need to see to her, lying motionless underneath the fitting. Tony lifted it and shoved it aside, before crouching down and lightly tapping the side of Pepper's face.

"Pepper? Hey, Pep, can you hear me?"

Other than a heavy nosebleed, Pepper seemed relatively unharmed - she just looked as though she was sleeping. Tony wiped away some of the blood from her face with the bottom of his black t-shirt, slightly unnerved by how quickly it returned.

To his relief, Pepper stirred, and groaned. She screwed up her face, and her hand came to rest on the side of her head, but she didn't open her eyes.

"Ow..." she muttered. "My head..."

"Pep, you okay?"

When she opened her eyes, she was met with the concerned brown eyes of her boss. Pepper was dimly aware of his hand cupping her face, and the slightly calloused pad of his thumb smoothing over her soft skin. She tried to sit up, and Tony helped her on instinct, pressing a hand to her back to support her.

"I think-... is that blood?" she said worriedly, touching her fingers to her face. When they came away covered in blood, she let out a small, surprised squeak that Tony probably would have found adorable if the situation was slightly different.

"Your nose is bleeding," he provided unhelpfully.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious."

"My pleasure, Ms. Potts. Here, let me help you with that." Tony edged a little closer, gently tilted his assistant's head up, and pinched her nose.

"Ow, Tony... too hard...!"

"Sorry," Tony loosened his fingers on her nose a little, and sighed. "You sure you're okay, Pep? That looked pretty nasty."

"I'm fine, don't worry," she replied, smiling halfheartedly, her voice sounding strange due to Tony pinching her nose. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Testing the modifications made on the right-hand repulsor. It went well at first, and then it malfunctioned." Tony sighed. "Back to the drawing board. Come on, you need some tissues - you're bleeding everywhere. Can you stand?"

Pepper, slightly surprised and suspicious of his rare caring side making an appearance nodded slowly, wincing as pain sliced through her head. The redhead took control over her bleeding nose, running her fingers over his own, in a silent gesture that she could do it herself. She smiled reassuringly at Tony when he looked at her, still displaying unnatural amounts of concern on his features. Tony wrapped a strong arm securely around her waist, and carefully hoisted her to her feet. She wobbled in her heels - one of which had snapped off, taking her by surprise and causing her to stumble - as soon as he let go, causing her to grab his arm automatically for support.

"Lose the shoes, Potts." he said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Probably a good idea," she muttered, obediently stepping out of them. She turned to pick them up, but Tony stopped her.

"Leave 'em, they'll still be here when you get back."

Pepper bit her lip, and sighed. Tony was right, the shoes didn't matter right now. Besides, one of them was pretty much ruined, anyway - not that it bothered her. Yes, they were pretty damn expensive, but likely replaceable, even if they were Gucci. Slowly, carefully, the pair made their way towards the (miraculously unshattered and intact) glass door, and started up the stairs. Every so often, Pepper would stumble a little, causing Tony to tighten his arm around her, and offer to carry her (she declined). Once they got to the top of the stairs, they headed in the direction of the bathroom.

"I'm really sorry, Pepper," Tony said.

Pepper sighed heavily. "Tony, it's fine. I'll give you a proper talking-to when my head doesn't feel like it's about to explode."

As they entered the bathroom, he flashed her a winning smile. "I look forward to it. Here, sit down." he replied, guiding her to sit on the edge of the bathtub. "You okay to sit there for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure." Tony turned around, and began gathering some toilet paper, which was the best thing he could offer on short notice. There was a box of tissues somewhere, but he was too concerned for her to prolong their journey. When he turned around again, Pepper's free hand was on her head again. "My head still hurts..."

"Do you feel sick at all, nauseous?" he questioned, handing her the toilet paper.

"Thanks," Pepper said, taking the toilet paper from him and holding it to her bleeding nose. "No, I don't. It just feels like a killer headache, that's all." She rose to her feet, and when Tony moved to help her, she slowly shook her head. He sat down on the toilet lid, watching her face contort with disgust as she looked in the mirror.

"Pep-?"

"Dammit, Stark!" she wailed. "My nose is bleeding like a faucet! First of all, you owe me a new pair of shoes. Second-"

"Ah, excellent."

"What's excellent?" she snapped.

"You're acting like your old self again." he replied, grinning. "You had me worried there, Pep. I thought that the little bump on the head could have caused a total personality change. I can't have a personal assistant that's constantly needy, can I?"

Pepper gasped, and scowled at him. "I wasn't acting needy! This whole thing was _your_ fault, Tony!" She continued to stare at him with a sour expression, as he held up his hands and chuckled.

"Hey, hey. It's a joke, not a dick - don't take it so hard."

"_Tony Stark_! Why, I outta-"

Pepper was cut off by her Blackberry beeping in her pocket. Groaning, she pulled it out, and answered it.

"Damn. I'm amazed that thing still works..." Tony muttered, as he walked out of the bathroom. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him, before putting on a cheerful demeanor for whoever was on the phone. She quickly stopped pinching her nose (she didn't want her voice sounding weird), but continued to hold up the tissue.

"Hello, this is Pepper Potts speaking." she greeted. "Yes, yes. Of course. No, I'm not sure." she said, talking on the phone as she left the room, elbowing Tony in the chest just above his arc reactor, its blue glow slightly faint due to the darkness of his t-shirt. He just laughed, and walked away, still chuckling to himself. "Mr. Stark would be delighted to get lunch with your reporters! How many? Four? Fantastic. Alright, sure. I'll let him know. Goodbye."

As she hung up the phone, she went to turn to Tony and tell him what she had planned, only to be met with an empty room. She frowned, and slipped her Blackberry back into her pocket. "JARVIS, where's Tony?"

"Mr. Stark is currently in his bedroom, Ms. Potts."

"Thank you, JARVIS."

"My pleasure, ma'am."

Pepper raised her eyebrows as she entered Tony's bedroom, finding the lights dimmed and him fast asleep, snoring lightly. She promptly walked over, and with a sharp smack to his shoulder, he jolted awake. He stared at her in surprise, as she threw the bloody tissue into the bin beside his bed, not that the bleeding seemed to have ceased.

"You've got lunch tomorrow at 9am with four news reporters." she informed, smiling smugly.

Tony sat bolt upright, and gaped at her. "_What_?"

Pepper just shrugged, and turned to leave the room. "Payback's a bitch, Mr. Stark." she informed bluntly.

"Don't make me fire you, Potts." he threatened.

"Don't make me sue you." she threw over her shoulder as she left the room. Tony smirked, and turned on his side, prepared to go back to sleep until Pepper re-entered the room, having forgotten to say something. She walked over to the side of the bed where Tony lay, and sat down beside him. He looked up at her curiously.

"What is it now?"

"Just... thank you," she said, placing a gentle hand on the shoulder she had sharply slapped only seconds ago. She leaned in, and planted a tender kiss on his chuck. Tony, absolutely dumb-struck, just stared at her. "You caused this mess, but you did a pretty good job of helping me. My head's still killing me, but it's nothing sleep and painkillers won't fix. So, again, thank you."

"Most welcome." he replied breathlessly.

Pepper gave him one last smile, gently squeezed his hand, and left the room for the second time. Tony's lips curled into a smile, and as she left, he said,

"You could always come to bed with me, Ms. Potts."

"Not that grateful," she replied. Tony just smirked again.

_Pepper goddamn Potts..._


End file.
